Brisbane Lions may offer second-round pick for Essendon's Paddy Ryder

Essendon became aware it had a genuine problem with Paddy Ryder some weeks ago, but Ryder's problem with the club began, in truth, in the first half of last year.

That was when the star ruckman and his pregnant fiancee Jessica McDonald became increasingly alarmed at the health risks posed by the 2011-2012 Bombers' drugs program. Ryder's interview with officials from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency and the AFL did nothing to alleviate the couple's fears. Fairfax Media has been told that the couple remained highly anxious about this matter until their healthy son was born late in 2013.

Small grievances between the Ryder family and the club followed, the Essendon players received show-cause letters from ASADA and the Bombers agreed its players and their families would be subject to annual health checks as a result of the program that has brought shame upon the club.

Should Ryder walk, both his management and his preferred club, the Brisbane Lions, seem prepared to deal with the Bombers through a compromise trade that would see the Lions sacrifice a second-round pick - around No. 20 - to gain the services of the talented player who is worth significantly more on the open market.

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The new clause which has been pushed by the players' union for some years, but which gained momentum after Essendon's player welfare failings, would likely not be enforced by Ryder but used as a mechanism to enable his departure.

The club knows it has struggled to keep the faith of Ryder's family and a recent invitation to McDonald and the couple's two young children to attend the Bombers' last home game function on August 23 - an invitation given to all its players' young families - does not appear to have resolved matters.

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Officials from Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney have contacted the AFL in recent weeks to satisfy themselves that the new breach-of-contract rule is in place and could be invoked from November.

Just as the Essendon team deserves credit for reaching the finals despite the distractions of the on-going fall-out, so does Ryder for his thriving on-field form.

Matthew Leuenberger competes with Tom Bellchambers, who would become Essendon's first ruck if Paddy Ryder leaves. Photo: Pat Scala

Now the news that Brisbane is leading the chase for the 26-year-old, should he follow through with his mooted intention to leave the Bombers, comes as yet another platform in the rebuilding of the once-mighty Lions.

The role of Ryder's manager Paul Connors - who also manages Stewart Crameri, who departed Essendon last year - has been viewed suspiciously by the club. Not only are the Bombers furious that this festering sore has become public on the eve of the finals, they regarded Connors as being a key player in the push for the new contractual escape clause recently negotiated by the AFL Players Association.

The influential Craig Kelly, whose powerful management agency Elite Sports Properties is handling nine players facing potential ASADA suspension, subtly criticised Connors to Fairfax Media last year, suggesting that some player agents were holding the club to ransom as a result of the drugs catastrophe.

But at least two of Connors' Essendon stable - Michael Hibberd and Jake Melksham - recommitted to the club in the heat of the drugs fall-out. Now that Ryder has indicated he could quit the club, the industry view is that the new clause would be successfully adopted as a lever to depart the club without added complications while giving the Bombers some compensation.

Only Ryder has at this stage seriously considered quitting, but at least one other player has contacted the AFLPA to clarify his options.

The general opinion from the AFL is that the complexities of employment law dictate that, even with the new breach of contract clause, Ryder's case is not as open and shut as the AFLPA believes it is. This is despite the findings of the Switkowski report, the mandated annual health checks, the misinformation the players were given and the fact the club still cannot tell its footballers what drugs they were administered.

Losing Paddy Ryder at this point of his career would clearly be devastating for Essendon but it seems unfeasible that the club would have the bad grace to challenge his departure after what it has put his family through. It has some work to do to regain their trust.

And Brisbane? That club has already finished the season with some momentum, installed a respected new CEO and boasted the 2014 NAB Rising Star, whose story is as moving as any in that award's history.

Now it stands to gain a 26-year-old old ruckman-forward who many commentators believe deserved to be All-Australian this year and still retain pick No. 4 in the national draft.